Frequently Asked Questions

Answers to your most pressing Big Day of Giving questions

If you have questions about Big Day of Giving, ask the Big Day of Giving team. If you have questions about local film, ask the Capital Film Alliance, who joined us at the 2016 Big Day of Giving Halftime Celebration!

You have Big Day of Giving questions. We have Big Day of Giving answers! Please browse our brief answers to your burning questions below. If you can't find something you are looking for here, please visit the Big Day of Giving page on GivingEdge, which powers BDOG, or email the Big Day of Giving team at bdog@sacregcf.org.

WHO AND WHAT IS CIVICORE?

CiviCore is the technology provider that created the online infrastructure and giving portal platforms for Big Day of Giving. Founded in 2000, CiviCore has over 15 years of experience providing affordable, high-quality technology solutions to nonprofits and public agencies. CiviCore has a deep knowledge of giving day events, in part gained from providing technology solutions to some of the biggest and most popular giving days across the country such as Colorado Gives and Amplify Austin.

HOW DID YOU CHOOSE CIVICORE?

A long and detailed vetting process began just days after the 2016 Big Day of Giving. When that year’s technology crash affected communities all over the country, we convened a group of over 25 community foundations and together worked through the next steps, including vetting many technology providers that had proven track records with giving days. After narrowing the field to a handful of contenders, we met with potential providers individually to further our understanding of key elements such as security, user features, pricing, hosting architecture, and redundancies — to name just a few. We also spoke with several current and new clients of CiviCore to understand their work style and history from a client’s perspective. CiviCore received high marks throughout our vetting process and we look forward to working with them well into the future. To learn more about CiviCore, please visit their website.

WHAT FEES ARE ASSOCIATED WITH CIVICORE?

The transaction fees for gifts given through www.bigdayofgiving.org during Big Day of Giving 2018 were 5.2%. The fee is broken down as follows:

CiviCore technology provider processing fee (2.6%): This portion of the fee goes to our partners at CiviCore for hosting the site, preventing fraud, and ensuring a positive user experience during Big Day of Giving.

Credit card processing fee (2.1%): This fee is for by our gateway provider, credit card companies, and merchant vendor. This year, transactions are provided by Stripe.

Management fee (0.5%): This fee goes to the Big Day of Giving team and is used to help offset the fees associated with event management, reconcilation of gifts and check processing.

Matching gifts and prize money that help nonprofits cover these costs are not subject to transaction fees.

CAN YOU GUARANTEE THE WEBSITE WILL WORK?

No technology is failsafe and there is always a risk of something going awry — that is true with any online technology, we know. That being said, we have taken care in choosing a new technology provider that has a solid architecture and multiple redundancies in place, including a thorough contingency planning process.

IS MY ORGANIZATION ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE IN BDOG?

Because Big Day of Giving is a dynamic community event, eligibility requirements can change slightly from year to year. The requirements for participation in Big Day of Giving 2020 on May 7, 2020, will be posted in the Big Day of Giving section of the GivingEdge website in the fall.

EXPANDING PHILANTHROPY AND THE SOCIAL ECONOMY

Big Day of Giving and GivingEdge are brought to the capital area by the Foundation as part of our Strategic Initiative to expand charitable giving in our community and to strengthen our local nonprofit sector.